Double Crossbow (Daryl Dixon) [The Walking Dead]

Chapter 46 ↣ Will you believe in me?

"And I wanna live, not just survive tonight."

— The Cab, Angel With A Shotgun

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Daryl

LIFE AT THE prison had never been so stable. My life had never had so much structure. We operated under a council now. Rick opting to take a well deserved break. He instead worked alongside Hershel in developing a food source that could keep everyone here fed, one that had both crops and livestock which included a horse that Kathryn had reigned in by some dark powers a month ago. I'd never forget Rick's face.

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Rick and I stood out in the field as I helped him map out what we wanted to do with the space. My head whipped to the gate as a piercing whistle sounded from the depths of the forest. Kathryn had slipped out without me that morning, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was her. Rick and I ran for the gate, and started pulling the ropes that opened our newly renovated gate. The two tall slabs of metal blocked our view of road that led into the prison, so one could imagine our surprise when Kathryn thundered in sitting atop a horse, rather than walking in like a normal person.

We closed the gates and turned to the blonde that had halted just inside the fence. "We could use a horse, right?" she asked, bending down and wrapping her arms around the horse's neck in a hug, a grin plastered on her face. My gaze flickered over to Rick who stood mouth agape looking a Kathryn. I had never seen him to utterly dumbfounded.

"H-How?" Rick asked, blinking rapidly as if he thought he was dreaming.

It was then I noticed that the horse had no saddle, no bridle, nothing. Kathryn was riding completely bareback. She gracefully slid from the horse's back. The horse gave a little huff before trotting over to the field and grazing like it had lived here all its life. "We bumped into each other while I was setting up some snares. Asked if she'd like somewhere to stay," Kathryn responded as if it was an utterly normal thing to converse with a wild horse.

A small laugh escaped my throat. I looked to Rick. "Looks like we better get started on that pen."

Rick grinned. "I guess so."

"Is that a horse!" We all looked up the trail at Carl who stood staring in amazement.

"Come meet her!" Kathryn called back, and Carl happily raced towards us.

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Since then the horse had been named S'mores by the kids of the camp, much to Kathryn's despair. She had wanted to name her companion something much more badass. Oh, yeah, kids. We accepted all kinds now as long as they answered three questions to our liking. Out of all our residents, I liked the kids the most. Not that I would let that on. It would ruin my image.

"Hey, you." That voice pulled me from my thoughts. A smile made its way to my face as I saw Kathryn striding towards me. She took a seat beside me, and slid a plate of breakfast over. "Carol said you hadn't eaten yet."

"Was waiting for you," I said, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple. I had somehow woken up before her this morning.

"What were you thinking so hard about?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Nothing much." This somehow satisfied Kathryn as she got distracted by her food. I had to keep a lid on my emotions today. Kathryn could smell something fishy two miles away, and I didn't want to ruin my plan. "What's on the fun list today?"